REVIEWS

Episode #14 - The Bat, The Cat, and the Very Ugly Original Airdate - May 14th, 2005 - Season Premiere Penguin and Catwoman join forces to steal a pair of valuable gems. But when the Batman arrives to stop them, Catwoman is double-crossed by Penguin, who handcuffs her to the Dark Knight. With the handcuffs wired to explode if removed, the pair are forced to work together to stop Penguin – which arouses suspicion from Detective Yin as she tests her new partnership with the Batman. Review by Jim Harvey Media by Gareb Credits Supervising Producer Duane Capizzi Supervising Producer Michael Goguen Producer Linda M. Steiner, Jeff Matsuda Associate Producer Kimberley A. Smith Written by Tom Pugsley and Greg Klein Directed by Brandon Vietti Animation by DR Movie Co., LTD. Music by Thomas Chase Jones Voices Rino Romano as The Batman Alastair Duncan as Alfred Ming-Na as Detective Ellen Yin Gina Gershon as Catwoman Tom Kenny as Penguin Screen Grabs HD Screen Grabs Pans Review When the final two episodes of The Batman’s first season aired, I was blown away with their quality. The writing had improved, I loved the animation, and most of the character designs really popped. Designer Jeff Mattsuda’s slight changes to Batman’s costume really worked. When that finale aired, I thought the show was finally coming together. Then I read the first episode of season two would be a team-up between Catwoman and The Penguin. I got worried. Was the quality going to just fall right down again? Thankfully, the answer is no. While the episode isn’t “Batman Returns,” it’s thankfully not “Batman & Robin,” either. This episode, “The Bat The Cat and The Very Ugly,” also picks up on plot points left dangling at the end of the first season. Catwoman and Penguin team up, make kissy faces, and steal two statues that - when together - harness the power of sun and light. With these two statues, Gotham could be destroyed in an instant. Penguin wants to hold the city ransom, but Catwoman just wants one of the two statues for herself. This doesn’t fly with The Penguin, causing problems between the two new partners. The plot isn’t extraordinary, but it serves the series just fine. If I have any complaint about this episode, it’s Catwoman. Her design is quite nice and faithful to the comics, but the voice work of Gina Gershon is so hard to take. The horrible puns and over sexualization of her dialogue is laughable and hard to take. There’s no charisma to her voice at all. On the other hand, Rino Romano is starting to really come along as The Batman now. He sounds more confident and stable, making even the clunkiest bit of dialogue work. I will always think of him as Spider-Man, from Spider-Man Unlimited and the popular Playstation games, but he’s doing a good job leaving his mark on this character. [ Back to Reviews ]

 

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